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Do you look back/side in doubles?

so if you're in front, and the opponent lifts to back court a very high clear, do you take a peek or jus automatically move to adjust your position?

of if your opponent smashes to your partner, do you turn your head and look sideways or just focused front view and see how your partner returned?

i guess there's not enough time to peek if they are smashing, but if it's a high clear, i like to just look back to see my partner's position (especially if he's smashed several times already) and whether he's in trouble or not.

Most of the time, I don't look back if I know the play of my partner. With my regular partner, I don't look back at all (oh, maybe sometimes I do, but very rarely). If I'm in a new pairing, I would take a quick peek where he is, what kind of shot he's gonna do, and where it's directed.

However, most of the coaches say that this is a "no no" in badminton. Perhaps it's because your back player partner could mishit the shuttle and smash it right to your face instead. But I always see pros taking a quick peek also.

I only do it when our side is attacking but it is always 'side ways quick ass peek', so I can roughly guess/see where my partner is from the corner of my eye.

I find this helpful especially when the lift is very deep into the corners and he may not react in time to cover the opposite angle just in case of smash return, so I will do the necessary adjustments in my position to cover/anticipate.

When defending, I don't peek sideways but generally have my view tilted to the side so I can see the shuttle going back and forth but yet still have view of both my opponents, like a bird's eye view.

I have never had shuttles smashed into my face or eyeballs but I have had racquets smashed onto my head but I am pretty sure that's not because I looked back

Well, I move pretty instinctually in doubles, and its good movement. Sadly though, my doubles spacing is one of the best parts of my game, besides defense.

With people I trust to move well, I simply assume they do the right thing and move accordingly. With random partners, for the first few rallies, I peek to see how good their spacing is. If its good, I stop peeking. If he/she isn't moving well, or not as good as i am, i have to keep an eye on them after they hit, so i can adjust and cover more court if i have to. But i'm not too good so it rarely happens.

Personally, I think look back in doubles can be very dangerous, and even more dangerous in lower level of playing, consider the player's movement and strokes are quite inconsistent. There numerous times, I've seen ppl being hit on the face from his/her own partner, when a poorly excuted smash/drive was lauched to a totally wrong direction.

To me, the front role in doubles should be the floor general, and the one in the back should move accordingly, not the other way around. Looking back, while does not know what will happen next, can be very risky.

I think look back it's okay, when the bird is lifted up by your opponent. You should look to see the angle of the flight path to see if it's out then turn around (of course before your partner hit it) Yell out if it's out, help your partner out. But of course usually you don't have enough time for this low lift then forget it, just worry about the front return shots.
Side way, not a good thing to do. But I do it sometime.

I would recommend not looking back , because you can never know if your partner is going to hit the shuttle in your face!

But it is okay , I would only recommend it if your opponent does a very high lift , your playing with a weaker partner ( make it quick - this could be risky! )
Just so you can adjust your posiotioning - other than that I would say no.

Looking back is safe only if you are sure your partner has good timing of racket swing, and it's a clear. The timing of racket swing can be off from a partner and hit you in the face when you don't expect it. I actually had my partner hit my racket while I was in front, standing in place to hit my shot. My racket broke. At least he didn't hit me in the face!

Just to clear this up: looking back is fundamentally unsafe, regardless of your partner's ability. Even if you're paired with a professional player (actually, especially if you're paired with a professional player...), you should never look back at the moment he is about to hit the shuttle.

The only time it's okay to look back is when the shuttle is high in the air. Not even Fu Hai Feng can jump 4 metres off the ground, so you're safe here.

It's very dangerous to look back during doubles, specially for beginners. I play with a couple of eye doctors and they have treated patients who have been hit in the eye with the shuttle when looking back. They know of one patient treated in their clinic who even lost sight in the eye that was hit. Being an intermediate player, I sometimes take a quick glance where my partner is but only when the shuttle hasn't gone past me, and is high up in the air.

I've been hit several times by shuttles but there was this one time when I got hit solidly at the back of my head when my partner smashed behind me. The shuttle hit me squarely and it HURT. So I can imagine how players can get serious eye injuries by looking back.